Above and beyond: Dog honored for her exceptional service to her mistress and humanity

RACHEL LANDRY

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, July 31, 2001

Cook, who suffers from spina bifida, was out training her dog — nicknamed Sarge — to be a service dog when she fell while trying to walk from a hotel room to a restaurant.

Cook had had a leg amputated when she was 30, so she was training Sarge to help her walk without the assistance of another person. When trained, the year-old black Labrador retriever would help Cook be mobile and self-sufficient. However, when Cook fell on her way to the restaurant, Sarge did not yet have the skills to help her.

During her fall, Cook had let go of the leash attached to Sarge, and the dog began to run away.

As she lay there in the mud, with her prosthetic leg unattached and cuts on her other leg and an arm, Cook thought that was the last she would ever see of her new service dog.

But then Sarge came back, positioning herself between the fallen woman and the road, but too far away to help Cook regain her feet.

After a while, a man stopped to help Cook off the ground. Seeing the man, the dog walked in front of her to guard her.

That protective instinct gave Cook the chance she needed.

Placing her arms around Sarge's neck, she was able to get herself off of the ground.

The man was amazed at how Sarge had helped Cook in her time of need and asked how she trained the dog to help her.

"I replied 'I don't know," said Cook. "I didn't train her, she did it because she wanted to.'"

Not long before that incident, Cook hadn't even considered having a service dog to help her.

Considered disabled, she relied on a wheelchair and a prosthetic leg to get around. Because her husband travelled for his job, and she could not drive, Cook spent most of her time at home.

Cook has been fighting the devestation of spina bifida her entire life, enduring tumors and bone infections, common complications of the birth defect. Cook also has scoliosis and Lupus, and has had over 30 surgeries to repair her body.

A former director of a day care center, Cook took a job as an office manager for seven dentists after one of her surgeries. Eventually, the stress she suffered due to her surgeries caused her to quit that job.

At one point in her adult life, Cook was having to relearn how to walk about every two years.

Unable to sit up for more than an hour-and-a-half tops, Cook found herself becoming slightly depressed.

At the encouragement of her veterinarian, and a man named Mike who had a service dog, Cook decided to get her own service dog.

She found out, though, that the wait to receive one was anywhere from two to 10 years, so she decided to would find a suitable dog and train it herself.

She had to search for a while, but eventually Cook found a suitable match in Katy, at a facility that trained hunting dogs.

The owner had a 12-month-old black lab, the type of dog Cook wanted.

Cook says she felt an instant connection between her and the dog.

"He brought her out and instantly she made eye contact with me," Cook said.

Before she came to live at the training facility, Sarge, who was then known as Princess, had been kept in a utility room, and was not socialized. She did not even know her name.

Unfortunately, Sarge also had a condition — a bad hip — that was not good for a service dog due to the stress that would be placed on her body.

However, Cook was attached to her and could not give the dog up.

"How could we turn her down for having a bad hip," Cook said. "I've had a bad hip all my life and my husband still kept me."

Sarge was given medication to repair her hip, and no longer has problems with it.

It was after that muddy fall at the hotel that Cook realized she had made the right decision to keep Sarge.

"Then I knew I made the right decision," Cook said. "We'd be okay."

The addition of Sarge has drastically changed Cook's lifestyle.

Previously afraid to go out alone due to a fear of falling, Cook can go to the grocery store, travel or shop by herself with the assistance of her dog.

Sarge is attached to a leash that Cook holds onto when walking around. The leash helps Sarge pull Cook along when she starts feeling sluggish. When Sarge is "on duty" — when she is wearing her leash and a vest — the dog and her mistress act very professionally.

When the vest is off, Sarge can switch into play mode and act like any other dog.

Sarge and Cook have formed a close bond, and Sarge can detect Cook's needs without prompting. She often detects small changes in Cook's gate and prevents her from falling by pulling the leash in the opposite direction.

"I could do the simple things I hadn't been able to do in years," Cook said. "The world was all open to me again."

Sarge has also bonded with Cook's husband, which is odd for a service dog to do since most service dogs only form a bond with their partner, the person it is serving.

Cook credits Sarge with having saved her husband's life.

One day, Cook noticed Sarge acting frantic and licking her husband's neck. She remembered she had heard of that behavior in another guide dog when it's owner had a heart attack, so she rushed her husband to the hospital. After being at the hospital for awhile, his heart attack finally showed up on an electro-cardiogram.

The doctors told her that if the dog had not detected the heart attack, her husband would have not lived through it.

In 1999, after being independent and lively for several years, Cook was diagnosed with Stage Two breast cancer. When she went to M.D. Anderson to be treated, though, she was told service dogs were not allowed in the hospital due to health concerns.

Cook explained that if she did not have her dog for a long period of time, she would have to start all over and learn how to walk again.

Eventually, the hospital reconsidered its policy and she was given special permission to keep Sarge with her as a test case. Her experience would help the hospital decide how they would deal with service dogs in the future.

After Cook's surgery, Sarge jumped up on her bed, placed her head on Cook's shoulder and stayed there until after Cook was awake.

For five days, Cook and Sarge stayed at M.D. Anderson. Sarge became well known around the hospital, and patients would ask for her to come into their rooms.

Visits with Sarge turned out to be good therapy for the patients, who would talk about their own experiences with cancer, and how they missed their own pets.

Now service dogs are allowed at the hospital, and some members of the staff are trained on how to deal with patients who have the animals.

Because Sarge has been instrumental in improving the acceptance of service dogs in public places, she has been nominated for the Delta Society's "Service dog of the year for 2002".

The nomination is for many reasons.

The first is how she has changed Cook's life for the better.

"It is partly for what she has done for me," Cook said. "She's changed my life from someone who was a little depressed and at home to someone who is always on the go."

In addition to her impact on Cook's life, Sarge has also helped educate the public on service dogs.

"We are changing stereotypes that a dog is just a dog," Cook said. "These dogs are well-trained. She and I have helped educate people about the role of a service dog."

However much Sarge has helped others, Cook and Sarge have helped each other the most.

"In a sense we were both shut-ins," Cook said. "But put together with the bond of love between us, we're both out getting to enjoy life."